Do electronic health records reduce or increase physicians' liability risk?
February 1st 2010Because some practices have been slow to adopt electronic health records, scant evidence exists to support the commonly held notion that EHRs help mitigate liability risk, according to a published report in American Medical News.
Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging advised to detect pelvic organ prolapse
February 1st 2010Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the urethra, along with static MRI, may benefit women who are experiencing lower urinary tract symptoms by helping to detect pelvic organ prolapse, according to researchers at New York University Medical Center's Department of Radiology.
Assisted reproductive technologies glossary helps advance infertility as a disease
February 1st 2010In an effort to standardize terminology and understanding of assisted reproduction and gain recognition of infertility as a true disease worthy of insurance reimbursement and government funding, the World Health Organization and the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted eproductive Technologies recently released a new international glossary of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) terminology.
Heart disease trends: Prevalence in women nearly equal to men
February 1st 2010Middle-aged women are gaining ground on their male counterparts in their prevalence of myocardial infarction and their cardiovascular risk factor scores, according to a review of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys over time.
Intrapartum fetal monitoring: Maximizing benefits and minimizing risk
February 1st 2010Electronic feta l heart rate (FHR) monitoring was introduced in the late 1960s with the hope of preventing intrapartum fetal brain injury and cerebral palsy (CP). However, it is now clear that this hope was unrealistic for at least 2 reasons. First, the false-positive rate of intrapartum FHR monitoring for predicting CP exceeds 99%. Except in the most extreme cases, intrapartum FHR monitoring has never been capable of reliably predicting CP.
Breastfeeding affected by whether mothers smoke
February 1st 2010Compared with nonsmoking mothers, mothers who smoke are less apt to breastfeed their babies. In addition, among mothers who smoke and who choose to breastfeed, the length of time during which they do so may be shortened, compared with nonsmoking mothers, according to new research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Should Infertility Patients be Screened for Celiac Disease?
February 1st 2010Celiac disease occurs in roughly 1% of all humans. It is an autoimmune condition initially caused by hypersensitivity and hyperimmunity to a class of proteins, called gliadins, which are found in the outer husk of common grains such as wheat, barley, rye, and oats.
Viewpoint: Is it time for physicians to have an 80-hour attending workweek?
January 1st 2010I recall I took some comfort in that adage during my residency. However, such bravado was representative of a different era, a time when 36-hour calls, 120-hour workweeks, and 1 weekend off a month were seen as rites of passage crucial to the creation of competent physicians.
In cases of benign disease, vaginal hysterectomy is preferred approach
January 1st 2010The vaginal route is preferable to the open abdominal route and to the laparoscopic technique for hysterectomy for benign disease, according to an American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) committee opinion.
Cesarean deliveries may benefit from blunt versus sharp needles
January 1st 2010The use of blunt, as opposed to sharp, needles significantly reduces the rate of glove perforation-and perhaps needlesticks-for surgeons and assistants performing cesarean-delivery closure, according to the results of a randomized, controlled trial.
Prolapse surgery combination may lead to stress urinary continence treatment failure in older women
January 1st 2010Compared with younger women, older women who undergo combined surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) are almost twice as likely to experience SUI (but not POP) treatment failure.
Statins and cancer: Discovering their role in treating gynecologic cancers
January 1st 2010HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, commonly referred to as statins, have gained popularity for their ability to effectively lower cholesterol levels in patients with CV disease, but new roles for statins may be on the horizon.
Treatment of mild gestational diabetes reduces some, but not all, risks
December 1st 2009Treating mild gestational diabetes doesn't improve perinatal mortality or conditions linked to maternal carbohydrate intolerance such as neonatal hypoglycemia, hyperbilirubinemia, hyperinsulinemia, and birth trauma. But treatment does lessen other risks.